Boy! Did that gun feel good in my hand!
The hammering and ringing off stage packed up suddenly. That meant they were nervous of waking up the neighbourhood and were going to get in through a window. I didn’t kid myself that they would go home.
I dived out into the passage and burst into the other room. Now I was expecting to find Mardi there. I already had visions of being quite the hero in her eyes. I went so far as to imagine that she would sink into my arms, so it set me back a long way when I saw Blondie sitting there.
Blondie? Can you tie that? There she was, tied hand and foot to a chair. Her eyes were brooding sudden death and her general expression like a tigress about to start something.
I stopped in my tracks. “Well, for the love of Mike!” I said.
She was as startled as I was. “Get me out of here,” she said hoarsely.
It was when she spoke that I saw she had been having a bad time. Some guy with more imagination than the milk of human kindness had been giving her the works. I could see the bruises on her face, and a Short length of rubber hose lying at her feet told me things, too.
I went behind her and sawed through the twine with my knife. “This gets me,” I told her as I worked. “I’ve been knocking guys all over the house an’ riskin’ my skin because I thought I was helping a girl friend of mine… now I find it’s you.”
She didn’t say anything, but the way her breath whistled through her nose told me she was plenty mad.
I had to move quickly. I just didn’t know how long those guys downstairs would be before they walked in on us. As soon as I had got rid of the twine, I jumped to the door.